Matteo Berrettini responds to abusive fan in stands after stunning Australian Open victory

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Matteo Berrettini took a few moments during his post-match interview to clap back at a heckler in the stands after his impressive Australian Open quarter-final victory over Gael Monfils. The 25-year-old became the first Italian man to reach the last four of the tournament with a thrilling five-set win to set up a mouthwatering clash with Rafael Nadal for a place in the final.

Berrettini won the first two sets before allowing Monfils to put himself on level terms ahead of the fifth and final set of the match.

He looked down and out at the end of the fourth but fought back to regain his earlier momentum with a double break at the beginning of the decisive set.

The world No 7 went on to seal a 6-4 6-4 3-6 3-6 6-2 victory to give himself a real chance of winning the first Grand Slam title of his professional career by sealing a last-four berth.

He spoke highly of his performance during his on-court interview but was stopped in his tracks when a disgruntled fan screamed abuse in his direction as he was discussing Monfils’ resurgence in sets three and four.

The fan in question was roundly booed as Berrettini was forced to pause his answer before hitting back in response.

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“It [the arena] is full of people but, like, some of them are not really tennis fans I think,” he replied to cheers from the crowd.

“It is what it is, you know. You cannot control everybody. I think to be respectful is something that you have to do anyway, but it’s fine.”

Berrettini will now have two days to recover from his win over Monfils before taking on Nadal in their heavyweight semi-final match-up.

The latter overcame the challenge of Denis Shapovalov in his quarter-final meeting with the 14th seed earlier in the day but was unable to prevent himself from dropping two sets on his way to victory.

Nadal defeated Berrettini in straight sets in the semi-finals of last year’s US Open but the man from Rome is determined to avoid going down without a fight at the next time of asking.

“It was the only time that I played Rafa and it was a really tough match for me,” explained Berrettini when quizzed on his chances of exacting revenge on Nadal in Melbourne.

“He won the tournament after and it was my first semi-final, I didn’t really know what to expect and even in the first set I had set point.

“I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a great fight, he played five sets as well today so he needs to rest as well.”

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Meanwhile, Nadal’s quarter-final win over Shapovalov was not without controversy, with the Israeli hopeful smashing his racquet and accusing officials of being too lenient over time between points during the match.

He also suggested that the 20-time Grand Slam winner was given preferential treatment as a result of his standing in the game in an assumption that was strongly refuted by Nadal after the match.

“I really believe that it’s always in the mind that top players get bigger advantages and, honestly, on court it’s not true,” he told a press conference.

“That’s my feeling. I never feel that I had advantages on court and I really believe that he’s wrong in that case.”

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